We’ve chosen some of our current favourite pieces of furniture available on Etsy. A mix of reclaimed and handmade industrial pieces and some classic Ercol furniture – just the designs we currently love.

These tables and benches are made with wood that has been salvaged from construction sites. Giving each piece a unique trace of its history on their surfaces creating a distinctive and industrial look. The makers offer these tables and benches in various finishes putting the extra individual touch to the pieces. The hairpin legs are a stylish current trend that compliment the wooden tops finishing off the items perfectly.

Some more of those beautiful hairpin legs with this coffee table! This sturdy looking coffee table with the extra storage from the ‘box’ shelf is the perfect piece for any living room. Here’s what the company says: “A vintage retro wooden Box Coffee Table in a dark wood finish with mid-century style metal hairpin legs in a choice of black or white powder coating or a bare steel ‘look’ (clear coated to protect from rust).”

The impressive grain from the Scottish Elm, paired with the slick clear coated sturdy legs, makes for a useful and trendy bench. Benches are often forgotten when you’re thinking about furniture for a home, but they work so well in any room; the perfect seating in a dining, hallway or living room. So, check this out!

This bench shows exactly how a bench would work in a hallway, as said with the Elm bench above, with the added bones of sections for your shoes. We love the mix of the industrial scaffold pole legs and cage shelves with the soft light food top. From the description it sounds as if the makers are willing to make this bench into something to perfectly fit any house and customers need.

This sofa had to be involved in this post, it is not handmade in the same sense as the other items so far in this post, but, it has the character and charm that comes with being a piece by Ercol. If you don’t know about Ercol and their process of making then you must check out some of their archive videos of the making of their furniture. This is just the perfect little Ercol piece.

Console tables combine function and style in an area of the house that tends to be the dumping zone. This slender, minimalist industrial table is the perfect statement piece for any size entranceway from small to large.

This English Elm table top features a resin river running through it adding the perfect splash of colour. The table is supported by a walnut frame and legs contrasting the light wood top and colour river. This statement from the description makes the tables stand out even more: “All our Elm is sourced within 30 miles of my workshop and can be traced to the individual tree, sustainably harvested as a by product of local tree surgeons and rescued rather than be used for firewood. Each piece has been handpicked for interesting features and is planed, sanded and hand rubbed with a protective varnish.”

Stepping away from the wooden joys that we’ve seen so far we come to these wire shelves. They are simple, industrial and useful. They would look great in any room of the house as a versatile piece of furniture. Bonus: they’re not too expensive.

The final piece of furniture we’ve chosen is this foldable metal and leather chair. This is a rustic design that is effortlessly brought into any room with the use of pillows and throws. The perfect solution to the need of extra seating without losing style within a room.

1) Christmas, New Year and winter time normally means clutter, winter dirt and leaves. Keeping the front door area and hall clear will make arriving home easy and something to look forward to and give guests a great first impression. Plants in the hallway are a great way to add colour and freshness to space.

2) Eye lines. Statement pieces or vibrantly painted walls can work as a great way to lead you through a house. This idea guides people into a certain room or space using their eyes and makes them want to stay and explore a little longer.

3) Plants, plants and more plants. We’ve definitely said this before. Plants are a great way to get colour, textures and shapes into your home. They also keep the spaces fresh and airy.

4) Good smells. Keep the house smelling fresh and cozy. Whilst its still (sort of) the season light any festive candles that you’ve got or been given or get baking.

5) Make it yours with small unique decorations and deign details. For example, put your own artwork on the walls or items that remind you of a good time or childhood memory.

Making something homely takes all of your senses. Not just snuggling under a warm blanket. So with these tips hopefully you can hit all five and feel homely from the time you see your front door.

All pictures found on Pinterest.

With a baby coming to the family we wanted to throw a cute and fun baby shower and heres how we did it!

All images in mood-board found on Pinterest.

With the ideas above collected from Pinterest we set about making the surprise party. Everything we chose was simple easy and games that could be played whilst everyone got to talk and nibble at the afternoon tea that we also put on.

A little birthday cake that we made for the day. Half chocolate and half vanilla sponge on the inside with a Stork flying over clouds on top.

So that Dad-to-be was involved we put together a all things useful nappy changing tool kit and got guests to write a inspirational/funny note to go in the box.

The sandwiches and scones set up on the table. Minimal balloons and bunting to decorate the space.

The gift table! Using IKEA boxes to make more space and more of a feature of the gifts that were given.

When the guests had drawn/written on their bibs they were hung up to create more bunting and an extra personal touch.

Not sure tasting the nasty nappies contents was a good choice but Mum-to-be went for that tactic.

Finally the party favours! The little man arrived yesterday (13 days late!) and we have popped the corn in celebration… and some Prosecco.

We were asked to help decorate a fun and beautiful, but not too expensive, engagement party recently. After trawling through thousands of Pinterest images we came up with this selection of ideas, giving a rustic country theme to the event.

With a typically dull rainy British day we had to tweak a few of these ideas, and ditch some last minute, but overall we thought we did a good job. The guests certainly seemed to have fun!

Decorations

Flowers – For this event we wanted white, bright and fun flowers so small arrangements of baby’s breath and big daisy like flowers in lace detailed jars was the way to go. We made around 12 of these and scattered them around the main rooms of the party.

Photo Wall – With the simple use of string and tiny pegs we created this photo and engagement card wall. Bringing a ton of memories to the event and adding a splash of colour.

Desert Table – Again adding a splash of colour our deserts table was a popular part of the event. The cute ‘Tying the Knot’ napkins were an especially cute touch.

Vodka Station! – We had a range of different flavoured vodka (Still in the freezer when this was taken) which needed to be included in the party. So instead of a ‘Pimp your prosecco’ we made a vodka shot station. It went down a little too well for some people!

Games

With not only a wedding but baby on the way too we had to include the little man in the party some how. So we had a “Date of birth betting” (Written in Polish and English) and a baby name suggestions pot. At the end of the night the names were read out with the favourites picked out from the many suggestions.

And of course we included a hung Photo Booth with props for a little record making fun.

The happy family!

We enjoyed making the decorations and putting it all together with the bride to be and overall the event was a success!

After having multiple compliments and enquiries of where to get a piece of art that we’ve made for our home- we decided to make a few to sell. This is something that we saw on Pinterest and decided to make for ourselves! Obviously it turned out well and so now we’ve got an initial batch to sell on Etsy and at christmas and craft fairs!

There are currently two options for this design -the above normal selection of crayon colours and a slightly brighter set (Below). This brighter set we think is perfect for the teen or childs room or play area!

Here are 5 summer garden DIYs that we’ve found and would love to make! Perfect for getting you in the mood for summer and your garden looking BBQ ready.

Tea light holders. This is a simple DIY that offers a fun way to have extra light in your garden as well as some recycling! (Click the image for the process)

Bright colourful hanging plant pots! Perfect for in the home or in the garden.

(Click the image for the process)

Stackable recycled planters. Make these from wooden wine boxes for even more of a rustic feel or make them from new! These are great because they make use of the height, creating more floor space, or creating mock walls in the garden.

These teepees are not only great for creating a space in the shade for children to play in, but they’re great for adults too! We would definitely hang out in this, and they’re not too hard to make either.(Click the image for the process)

This DIY takes a little more skill, but the outcome is the perfect comfy place to kick back with a book in the sun. (Click the image for the process)

We celebrated in style this year. Using some of the tips we found whilst writing the previous blog post we decorated the house in a classy festive way. The colour theme was black, silver and gold. The night incorporated the best things that happened last year and our wishes and resolutions for this year.

The main focus for our decoration was the dining table. We had a four course meal and spent the whole night around it. We also had a little Photo Booth set up for some family photo fun.

Here is our little photo booth set up. A simple hung tassel curtain and a simple homemade glittery sign with a few props.

On the table we had lots of glitter, little party hats, festive napkins and gift jars. In the gift jars we each had a horn, a straw, a paper fortune cookie and two games. The first game was a piece of paper with another guests name on it, we then had to think up an award for that person, I won the most artistic award and gave an award for most selfies taken. The second game was a piece of paper with questions like “moment that made you laugh the most” which we went around the table answering, writing them down and then putting the answers into a jar. This jar was also filled with our resolutions later in the evening and we will open it next New Years Eve.

The other part of our table decorations was helium balloons with photographs of everyone throughout the year hanging from them. We also had balloons with numbers on them for the countdown which we released at midnight and some sparklers with our champagne. All in all a successfully fun New Years Eve!

Here is another selection of DIYs for this Halloween season. This time we’ve focused on the use of paper to create these haunting pieces.

For The Wall

Bats are a quick and effective theme at Halloween. These two examples are easily done. The left is a very sophisticated way to get a little fun decoration into a room. The right would look great along with some pumpkins and the kids will love this one.

Again a simple, mature and sophisticated looking design.

Don’t know how to get decorations onto a staircase? Here we go! Get these little mice running around your home. The witch and broom design is a perfect piece to make a wall into a seasonal shrine.

For The Window

We love this way of making a window into a haunting scene. The one on the left we have done before and it looked so good! They’re the perfect option if you don’t want to clutter the house but want to get a little involved in the festivities.

This is a slightly more impressive scene. A proper Monsters Inc. inspired look.

There are so many options for these designs depending on the type and positioning of your windows.

If you don’t want to have to worry about your jack-o-lanterns being messy or rotting away this is a great way to get the symbolic sign into Halloween.

And This Cat Eye Treat

This is a pretty simple way to add Halloween decoration to your home. Cut small holes in a cat shaped piece of paper and then poke fairy lights through. We think they look so good and easy!

The spooking hour is nearly upon us so, over the next few weeks, we will be posting some crafty little creepy DIY decorations. First up is a collection of simple but effective themed makes for the home.

Spiders and webs!

Take a black plastic bin bag and cut it up to make this bold black spider web design. Stick some plastic spiders to your candles or anywhere in the house to add instant spookiness! This string spiders web is a little more intricate – but its just a few knots! Look up how to make a spiders web or dream catcher online for this DIY.

Ghosts!

Ghosts are a staple for any halloween decorating. The first idea here is to draw ghoulish faces on ping pong balls, put them on fairy light and add a little mesh fabric. Instant glowing ghosties. The middle image shows a really fun way of getting some movement into the decorations, by cutting a spiral piece of paper and unraveling it you can create these floating wonders. The last it a very cute and seasonal option. Painting some of those lovely autumn leaves!

Skeletons!

The use of string works so well for this skeleton make. On a black canvas (you may need to paint it black) stick pins through the canvas in a skull shape. Then wind sting around the pins to fill in the skeleton. Remember to leave out the eyes, nose and mouth! For the next skeleton wind some wire into a rough body shape. Wrap this with thin gauze to create these little mummys that can be shaped into any position. Finally and simple draw on latex gloves, stuff them with a material such as toilet roll and light them from behind.

Other Creepy Crafts…

The final three DIYs don’t really fit into any categories. These are great for a more sophisticated soirée! The first is a frosted wine glass with some little ghosts and text painted on and filled with fairy lights. The middle DIY looks a little tricky.. but it would look SO good. The final idea to create these gothic looking candles by melting crayons down standard candles. Do this with red crayons to create blood dripped candles!